“A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.”
Proverbs 18:16
This scripture makes clear the reason why we need to identify our gifts. However, it is one thing to identify your gift and another to put it to positive and profitable use. Paul knew this, and so he encouraged his spiritual son, Timothy, to stir up the gift of God which had been imparted to him by putting it to profitable use (2nd Timothy 1:6). Gifts are bestowed on people for specific reasons and purposes. For example, when the Lord gave Moses the architectural design of the tabernacle, He also gifted Bezaleel and Aholiab with artisan skills to carry out the works (Exodus 31:2-6, Exodus 36:1-2). The task was so complex that only those who were given the gift of “all manner of workmanship” could have carried it out with the precision it required. At the end of the exercise, the Bible says in Exodus 39:32&43:
“Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they… And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.”

Many people are gifted, but they fail to develop the gifts in them; so their gifts remain dormant and useless. Buried gifts are useless to the one who possesses them and also to the society at large, which ordinarily should benefit from them. People who fail to develop their gifts are like the proverbial unprofitable servant who refused to trade with (develop or multiply) the talent he was given by his lord (Matthew 25:14-30). The same principles apply to spiritual gifts. From 1 Corinthians 12:1-7 we understand that even though there are various spiritual gifts, they are all given for the common purpose and goal declared in Ephesians 4:12-13, which says:
“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
Everyone has a gift which we must all develop in order to be relevant in our generation. If we successfully use our gifts and bring profit to God through them, we will receive physical and spiritual rewards. Brethren, I encourage you to identify your gift, develop it and use it to glorify God and bless humanity.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.